Taekwon-Do Trivia

ITF Crest

There is a blue circle and two half circles inside it, one on the top and one on the bottom. The top circle represents heaven and the bottom circle represents earth. In between these two there is the image of a fist and "Tae" and "Kwon" in Korean on ether side of it. A wavy line connects heaven to earth though Taekwon-Do. Around this image we have International Taekwon-Do Federation in English.

General Choi in the Korean War

Gen. Choi Hong Hi is mentioned in the book From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General and is written by Gen. Paik Sun Yup. On page 142, Gen. Paik states: "When I took over ROK I Corps, my major
staff officers included Brig. Gen. Chang Chang Kuk as deputy corps
commander, Brig. Gen. CHOI HONG HI as chief of staff, Col. Kim Pyong
On as G-1, Col. Shin Chae Sik as G-2, Col. Kong Kuk Chin as G-3, and
Col. Kim Yong Taek as G-4. This group of select, competent officers
was unmatched anywhere in the ROK Army."

Choi Pronunciation

There is no "oy" in Korean. It is actually the combination of 'o' and 'ee', but pronounced as something in between 'Cho' and 'Chae'. Koreans are a very polite people. They have been too polite to tell others how to pronounce their names correctly and thus let this pronunciation perpetuate.

Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris has an honorary 8th Dan Black Belt in Taekwon-Do. His first and primary style is Tang Soo Do (also called Chung Do Kwan), which he began his study of when he was stationed in Inchon, Korea with the US Air Force. He failed his black belt test twice before succeeding on his third attempt. He was a six-time World Karate Champion long before the idea of protective equipment ever came about. During his first tournament, Master Norris fought Grand Master Sereff for the overall title. Master Norris won by one point.

Tekken 3

The name of the person who was taken to create the character Hwa-Rang in Tekken is Hwang Su Il, 4th Dan Black Belt, from the Korea Taekwon-Do Federation in Japan. He can be seen performing the pattern Hwa-Rang and part of Sam-Il in the game. He is a former World Lightweight Champion.